Finding Your “Me” Space

So there’s this thing I do that I’ve done pretty much all my adult life. I start my day with coffee and some quiet time. It’s gone through various permutations over the decades (we can say that now – “decades” – we’re the older generation!), but has pretty much always included some devotional and Bible reading. For years I journaled, too, first in spiral-bound notebooks (lots and lots of notebooks – still have them in a box somewhere) and later on the computer (those docs are lost on dead mother boards). Journaling is not a part of my current morning time, but I still have that quiet time with my devotional book and my Bible. It’s essential to my mental health!

BK (Before Kids) that just meant setting my alarm half an hour earlier. When the girls came along to add joy and challenge to my life, it meant setting firm rules about what time they could get up. (Well, for one girl at least. The elder loves her sleep. We let the younger have a transistor radio which she listened to in bed with an ear bud.) Nowadays, with the seven-year-old grand, a combination of me  getting up early and letting her watch the tablet (thirty minutes only!) that lets me have my quiet time. So, yeah, I do what I have to do to get this precious all-to-myself time before my energized princess revs up my day.

These sorts of daily or weekly rituals are so necessary to our health, to our self-care. And we remember that self-care is important, right? We know if we’re going to be able to give our grands the care they need, to keep up with them, we’ve got to recharge our own batteries first. It’s sort of like losing your place in a script and taking the time to find it again so that you can go on with the show.

So what recharges your batteries? A massage or a bath? A walk in the park or baking a cake? Reading a novel just for fun? (My hand is up here.) Take the time to make it happen. Maybe you’re like me and thinking, “If only.” Get creative. This is important. Get up half an hour before the kiddos. Take time for yourself after they’re in bed. Is there someone that can watch them for a morning while you get your nails done? Make it happen.